GRANVILLE, Ohio (March 30, 2022) – Denison University Athletics and the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) are proud to announce Sam Kline (softball), Omar Elliott-Diab (men’s basketball) and Sophia Cheros (women’s basketball) as 2022 All-American Strength & Conditioning Athlete of the Year Award recipients. This award recognizes the Big Red trio’s athletic accomplishments and their dedication to strength & conditioning.
Nominated by Denison’s Director of Sports Performance/Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Beau Scott, the determination of Kline, Elliott-Diab and Cheros to improve in athletics while maintaining academic prominence is a great model for all student-athletes at Denison.
“We are proud to have Coach Beau Scott join the NSCA in its mission to safely improve athletic performance,” says Eric McMahon, NSCA’s Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, “Supporting our student-athletes like Sam Kline, Omar Elliott-Diab and Sophia Cheros guarantees a stronger future for the NSCA.”
Read what Coach Beau Scott had to say about each of Denison’s 2022 All-American Strength & Conditioning Athlete of the Year Award recipients:
“Over the course of her career, Sam has been one of the most improved athletes I’ve coached at Denison. This is due to her exceptional work ethic and the mentality in which she approached her workouts. Sam improved her hang clean max from 95 to 135 pounds, her bench press max from 80 to 125 pounds, doubled her squat max from 115 to 230 pounds, and her max pull ups went from two her first year to 10 her senior year. Sam is a two-year captain the on the softball team, starting 52 games in the middle infield through the beginning of her senior year. She has a career batting average of .324, OPS of .747, and has collected 49 career hits. Sam has also served as a weight room intern. In 2021, Sam was selected to the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in addition to being named a NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete. Sam is a Psychology and HESS double major with a 3.63 GPA, and is a senior fellow in the HESS Department.”
“Omar has brought an exceptional work ethic since the first day he stepped in our weight room four years ago. Over the course of his career, he improved his hang clean max from 165 to 270 pounds, his bench press max from 205 to 295 pounds, his squat max from 290 to 420 pounds, and his vertical jump from 32.3 to 37.9 inches. He is a four-year member of the men’s basketball team as well as Denison’s Men of Color Group. He also served as a student intern in the varsity weight room in addition to interning with the strength and conditioning department at UC Davis in the summer of 2021. Omar’s work ethic and dedication to the weight room will be missed. Omar is a Health, Exercise, and Sport Studies major.”
“Sophia has been a leader throughout her four-year career at Denison. She is a four-year member of the women’s basketball team, in addition to working as an intern in the weight room for the past three years. She also completed a summer strength and conditioning internship at Clemson University in 2021. While at Denison, she has improved in all our weight room metrics. She finished her career with a hang clean max of 175 pounds, a bench press max of 160 pounds, and a squat max of 255 lbs. Sophia’s leadership as both an athlete and a coach will be missed. Sophia is a Health, Exercise, and Sport Studies major with a 3.41 GPA. Her work ethic and approach to training have been a tremendous example to her younger teammates. She is pursuing a career in the strength and conditioning field.”
Congratulations once again to Sam Kline, Omar Elliott-Diab and Sophia Cheros, and for an updated list of the All-American Athletes of the Year award, visit www.nsca.com/All-American.
About the National Strength & Conditioning Association:
Founded in 1978, The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing the strength and conditioning and related sport science professions around the world.
The NSCA exists to empower a community of professionals to maximize their impact through disseminating evidence- based knowledge and its practical application by offering industry-leading certifications, research journals, career development services, networking opportunities, and continuing education. The NSCA community is composed of more than 60,000 members and certified professionals throughout the world who further industry standards as researchers, educators, strength and conditioning coaches, performance and sport scientists, personal trainers, tactical professionals, and other related roles.
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